-1Promises before a battle and the scars of a demon's love
Chapter 6
The depths of a demon's heart! Infinite darkness or light?!
On mount Hokai- 3:30 a.m.
Sasuke rushes to Naruto, and Naruto rushes towards Sasuke. As they get closer, they punch at each other. Right before their blows connect, sand needles come shooting from under the snow, causing the two of them to jump back. Higher up on the mountain, Gaara could be seen with his arms folded. "You guys are gonna die if you don't pick up the pace!" Gaara smiled. "Don't worry though, this frozen wasteland will make a perfect graveyard." Sasuke punched at the snow below him, causing the snow around him to shoot up. When the snow fell to the ground, Sasuke was gone. Gaara started looking around. "Where is he!" Naruto smiled. "This is my chance!" "Shadow clone jutsu!" One Naruto held out his hand, the other one started sending chakra into his hand. "Almost there" Gaara looked back at Naruto. "I'll kill you before your finished!" Gaara shot sand shards in Narutos' direction. "It's ready." The clone Naruto grabbed the real one's arm and threw the real one in Gaara's direction. Naruto's ball of energy in his hand absorbed the sand shards. Right behind Gaara, Sasuke emerged with a ball of lighting in his hand. "Your behind me?!" Gaara shouted. Gaara turned and put his hands up in both of their directions. A sand ball formed in both of his hands. Naruto and Sasuke got close enough so that their attacks met with Gaara's. Naruto shouted, "Rasengan!" Sasuke shouted, "Chidori!" Gaara shouted, "Desert vortex!" The collisions from their attacks produced a giant beam of energy that shot into the sky.
Konoha village- 3 minutes earlier
Sakura, Hinata, and Mitsumi were just walking around. "Man, its just so boring without my man" sighed Mitsumi. Hinata looked at Mitsumi very pleasantly. "I already told you Mitsumi, Naruto belongs to me." "No, he belongs to me!" Mitsumi shouted. "No, Naruto belongs to me!" Hinata shouted back. Sakura sighed, "they're as bad as me and Ino!" she thought. Sakura gasped, "you guys, look on the mountain!" All three of them saw a beam of energy shoot into the sky. Mitsumi glared. "Okay you guys, time to train." "We can't keep letting the boys protect us all the time!"
Mount Hokai- back to the fight 3:31 a.m
"I don't want to lose here!" shouted Naruto. Naruto got on all fours, and a red aura of the nine tails could be seen. Gaara let the sand from his gord slowly meld onto his body. His eyes widened and his grin became tormented and dark. Sasuke looked down. "I can't let these two surpass me, I need to get stronger so I can kill Itachi!" The curse mark on Sasuke's neck started growing and consumed his whole body. A demon with giant hand-like wings emerged. All three of them shouted in unison. "Let's do this!" Naruto shot the right arm of the demon aura at Shukaku. Shukaku jumped high in the air, throwing sand shurikens at Sasuke, they missed and Sasuke jumped back, dodging the sand and flapping his giant wings. His wings created a massive shockwave that hit Shukaku, knocking all the sand on Gaara's body off, sending Gaara flying backwards. "This much force shouldn't come from one being!" As the shockwave hit Naruto, he sunk his claws into the snow so not to go flying backwards. "You won't get rid of me that easy!" Chakra started forming in Naruto's right hand. Naruto fomed the Rasengan, but it turned a tainted purple color. Sasuke smiled. "So that's how you want it huh?!" Sasuke formed the Chidori in his right hand, but it changed to a black and white color. Sasuke jumped in the air towards Naruto and Naruto jumped towards Sasuke. "I won't lose Sasuke!" "I'm going to win Naruto!" As their techniques collided everything else seemed to dissapear. When their attacks collided questions formed in their minds. Questions that could change everything. Questions like, "Why do I fight, why do I kill, How do I feel towards those two, why is life so hard,how can I end my endless struggle, if I'm a tool why do I bleed, is my existence meaningful, do I have someone to protect, can I rely on others, why do people hurt others, what am I to the world?! The shockwaves from their attacks, shot both of them in opposite directions. There demonic chakra faded and they reverted back to their nomal states. As they lay in the snow staring at the sky, they tried to answer those questions that had formed from their attacks, but they could think of nothing. Just then Gaara appeared in front of them, but half of his face and one of his arms still had Shukaku's sand on it. Sasuke and Naruto looked horrified. They had no more chakra in reserve, they were completely helpless! "Is this the end" Sasuke thought. Gaara smiled, "game over." Gaara released them both from the sand. Gaara started laughing. "Its not funny, I thought you were really gonna kill us!" Naruto growled. "Idiot" Sasuke said, "Gaara is an allie now, he wouldn't kill us." Gaara turned his attention to something shiny in the snow, to the left of him. "Guys, stop arguing and look there" pointed Gaara as the sand slowly went back into Gaara's Gourd. Naruto and Sasuke quickly stood up and looked in that direction. Naruto smiled and rushed for the shiny object. Naruto grabbed the object and tried to pull it out, but it wouldn't move. "I know!" Naruto stood up. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Ten Narutos stood there, pulling on the object with all their might.The object finally came out of the snow. All the other Narutos disappeared, leaving one Naruto panting alone. Then, the ground started shaking. "Is this an earthquake" shouted Sasuke. "No, it feels different somehow." In front of all three of them, giant pillars started shooting out of the snow. Seconds later, a giant castle stretched up to the heavens, right in front of them. "Wow!" shouted Naruto, "let's go in!" Naruto rushed inside of the castle at lightining speed. Gaara and Sasuke slowly entered after Naruto. The inside seemed even bigger than the outside. There was ancient text written all over the walls. "Cool!" shouted Naruto. Ahead of them were three paths. Naruto went into the middle path, Sasuke went to the right, and Gaara went to the left.
Gaara's path- 3:40 a.m.
Gaara walked forward through the darkness. "What is this place." Gaara's eyes widened. In front of him stood Shukaku. "Gaara" Shukaku said, "aren't you glad to see me." Gaara stepped back. "How can you be here, your supposed to be inside me!" Shukaku came closer. "I've finally come out, and I want blood!" Sand started to cover Gaara's leg. Gaara tried to command the sand, but it wouldn't respond. "Why won't the sand respond!" Shukaku laughed. "It's because I'm not inside of you!" The sand came up to Gaara's neck. Gaara couldn't move. The sand covered Gaara's whole body. "Sand burial!"
Sasuke's path- 3:43 a.m.
Sasuke went further into the tunnel. "Exactly how far does this tunnel go." Sasuke kept walking through the endless halls. Sasuke stopped. Right in front of him stood his cursed self. Sasuke smiled. "I thought I felt a familiar chakra. Well, let's get this over with. Sasuke ran towards the cursed being, thowing kunai as he approached. As he got closer, the evil Sasuke turned into Itachi! Sasuke stopped and his eyes widened. "Why are you here!" Itachi stared blankly at Sasuke. "Your weak, I have no time to fight weaklings. Itachi turned around and started walking away. The sharingan formed in Sasuke's eyes. "Get back here, so I can kill you!chidori!" Sasuke ran towards Itachi with chidori in hand and launched it with full force. Itachi lifted his left arm and elbowed Sasuke in the face. Sasuke fell backwards. "Damn you!" Itachi lifted Sasuke by the throat and started whispering in Sasuke's ear. "I'll make you lose it, then I'll let you see mom and dad again." Itachi punched Sasuke in the stomach, making the sharingan in Sasuke's eyes fade. "Are you ready little brother." Itachi forced Sasuke to gaze into his sharingan eyes. Sasuke was a little kid again, in his old house. Sasuke heard a noise and ran towards it. Inside the other room, he saw the bodies of his mother and father on the floor. In the corner of the room, Itachi stood there gazing blankly at Sasuke. "Why big brother." Itachi walked towards Sasuke. "To test my limit."Then Sasuke was suddenly transported to the path from school. Itachi stood in front of Sasuke once again. Then, out of nowhere, other Uchihas started to run towards Itachi. Time slowed down and everything went black and white. Itachi slaughtered the slow and defenceless Uchihas in front of Sasuke. Their expressions couldn't be anymore horrified than it was now, it was as if they stood in the face of the grim reeper. Sasuke stepped back. "Brother, don't show me this!!!"
Naruto's path- 3:50 a.m.
Naruto ran through the halls like an amusement park. "This is so great!!" Naruto ran to the end of the long path and stopped. In front of him, was the enraged version of himself. "Hey, who are you and why do you look like me when I'm mad!" Kyuubi Naruto approached. "Why have you forgiven them, why have you forgotten all the pain the villagers caused you!!" Kyuubi Naruto raced towards Naruto. Naruto stood motionless. Kyuubi Naruto pinned him to the ground and started punching Naruto. "Why have you forgiven them, why have you forgotten the pain. Kyyubi Naruto punched with all his might, but at the same time he was crying. "Why,why,why,why!!" Kyuubi Naruto stopped punching. He looked down at Naruto, and noticed a single tear fall down his cheek. "I never forgot the pain they caused. All the years of tears, all the times that I pushed myself to gain their respect. I never forgot and I never will, but I forgave them." Kyuubi Naruto's eyes widened. "But why!!" Naruto looked down. "I don't know. After all the years, they finally accepted me. I guess that was enough. Really, I longed to be appreciated and now that I am, I hold no grudge. Kyuubi Naruto transformed into the child version of Naruto. Naruto smiled. "Now cheer up little one, if you ever decide to come back, I'll treat you to some ramen!" The kid version of Naruto smiled and disappeared. Naruto stood up and started running. "The others must have fallen into the same trap as me, I've gotta hurry!"
Sasuke's path- 3:53 a.m.
"Move naruto move!!" Naruto's legs were pushed to the limit, yet he kept going. "Sasuke, where are you!!" Then, he heard Sasuke scream. He rushed towards the sound. Naruto soon came to a large room and right in the middle, Sasuke stood there, hitting the air. Naruto walked slowly to Sasuke. "Hey, what's wrong with you Sasuke." Naruto touched Sasuke's shoulder. Sasuke jumped back. "Stay away from me!!" "Sasuke, what's wrong with y-" Naruto looked closely at Sasuke. "Sasuke, could it be that your unconscious." Sasuke became still once again. Naruto ran and punched Sasuke. "Wake up!!" Sasuke reawakened once he fell to the ground. "Naruto, what are you doing here." Naruto helped Sasuke up. "As far as I can tell, this place uses your most feared memories or regrets to attack you." Sasuke gasped. "If that's the case, we have to get to Gaara!" Sasuke tried to walk but he twisted his ankle. "Cmon Sasuke, I'll carry you."
Gaara's path- 3:57 a.m.
Naruto and Sasuke walked slowly down the halls. "Hey Naruto, this place is filled with genjutsu right." "Yeah, but why do you ask?" "Sakura told me about an ancient group of ninja that use their chakra to set genjutsu in temples, even without a subject to place it on. Plus, the traps set will never wear off until it insnares at least one being." "So Sasuke, you think this is one of their temples huh?" "Yeah." Nauto got serious. "Sasuke, we're gonna speed up." They finally reached the chamber Gaara was in" They saw Gaara on the floor. "Sasuke, stay near the walls, there might be more traps." Naruto walked up to Gaara and was about to punch him. "Idiot, the Genjutsu can only be destroyed by exploiting the person's weakness. Think Naruto, has Gaara told you anything about his past that he regrets!" Naruto started to think.
Flashback- near Konoha's red light district
"This should be a shortcut to Ichiraku ramen." Naruto ran past all the signs but stopped occasionally to stare at certain women's features. Naruto stopped because he noticed Gaara eating at a bar. Naruto walked over. "How's it going Gaara!" Gaara gazed at Naruto with longing eyes. "Ya know Naruto, my father showed me very few acts of kindness." "That's nice." Gaara looked up. "He told me about my mother." "He told me that she had a very curvey figure, with long hair and blue eyes. She was about in her thirties and if she smiled, her smile would make even the angels jealous."
Back to present
Naruto gathered all the images of what Gaara told him. "I got it!" Naruto put his hands together. "Transform!" There she was, every detail Gaara had described took effect. Naruto put his hands under Gaara's head. "Gaara dear, I love you with all my heart and don't blame you for my death. Gaara opened his eyes. "Mother?" Naruto rubbed Gaara's crimson hair. "Sleep Gaara dear." Gaara fainted in his mother's arms. Sasuke,who was in the corner of the room, stared in amazement. "Naruto, what a guy."
From now on, at the end of each chapter, I will give a preview of the chapter to come. Well here it is.
Hinata rushes towards Mitsumi with murderous intent. Mitsumi steps backwards hitting some invisible wire. Suddenly, hundreds of arrows start falling from the sky, exactly where Hinata and Mitsumi were. Mitsumi stared at the falling arrows. "I can't dodge that!" Hinata smiled and hit Mitsumi right where her heart is. Mitsumi flew backwards. Hinata looked up at the arrows and smiled. "I think I should use that technique now."
Well there you have it! Gotta go because Naruto messed with Anko again and she keeps licking her kunai at him!